If you notice the weed on the ground in the picture, that was the work of my kids. Guess I’ve trained them well! They were pulling up weeds in the flower beds around town. It’s a habit. I remember one time when we went to eat out at Tony’s, they stopped to pull up weeds in front of the pizzeria. Cboy was especially appalled at the state of their flower beds, and I had to assure him that Tony’s would pay someone to pull up the weeds! We could just go eat pizza.

You might also notice, in this picture, that only one of Kbug’s eyes is visible. She needs a haircut! Bad! Maybe I’ll bring clippers to Ohio and give all the kids haircuts. (Ha. On vacation? Probably not!)

I went shopping this morning to buy food for our Ohio trip. (We leave tomorrow. My kids have never been so eager to go to bed!) We always bring lots and lots, and lots and LOTS of food on car trips. Survival at all costs! Gummy bears and chocolate bars help us all feel better.

The cashier at Martin’s Bulk Foods gave me my first pregnancy comment to laugh about. (Or groan, whichever mood strikes me!) As she was ringing up my stock-pile of food, she said, “If you don’t mind me saying so, you look just as uncomfortable as my daughter.” Come to find out, her daughter is being induced tomorrow. I’m thinking, “Lady, I still have three whole months to go!” And then she told me that this is technically her daughter’s second child. Her daughter’s first baby was delivered stillborn at 36 weeks. Why do people tell terrible, sad stories to pregnant women? Doesn’t she know that moms worry more the more pregnancies they have? Not less? But she was just making polite conversation, so I smiled and nodded and asked pertinent questions. Grandma’s can’t help talking about children and grandchildren!

Welcome!

I'm Ruth, the mom that lives here. "Our little patch of heaven" is a home we built with our bare hands, on an acre of land in the country. Our six kids are what truly make it heaven! We love each other, we love God, and we love our messy, noisy life. Most of the stories you find here will be about our adventures as a family, the wild and sweet children I call mine, and my attempt to be the best wife and mom I can be.